Sushant Singh Rajput: Case fast turning into interstate dispute between Bihar and Maharashtra

MUMBAI | PATNA: The death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput attained contours of an interstate dispute after Bihar DGP Gupteshwar Pandey alleged on Monday that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation had quarantined his junior, Vinay Tiwari, who was in the city to probe the case. Soon, the Maharashtra BJP petitioned governor BS Koshyari alleging Tiwari was “wrongfully and forcefully kept in quarantine”, and Bihar legislators demanded a CBI probe into Rajput’s death in the legislative assembly and council.
Later, Mumbai Police Commissioner Parambir Singh said that doctors who treated Rajput revealed that he had bipolar disorder, which caused extreme mood swings. Rajput, whose performances won critical acclaim, was found hanging in his rented apartment in Bandra on June 14 and the Mumbai Police is probing the unnatural death, while the Bihar Police has registered a case of abetment to suicide against actor Rhea Chakraborty, who was in a relationship with Rajput, on a complaint of his father.

“It was found that the actor had bipolar disorder and was undergoing treatment and medication. What circumstances led to his death is the subject of our investigation,” Singh told a news conference. However, Rajput’s father KK Singh claimed the Mumbai Police was informed that there was a threat to the actor’s life in February. “I had told the Mumbai Police in February that my son faced a threat to his life but it did nothing. When my son died on June 14, I requested it to take action against named persons. But nothing came of it even after 40 days. Left with no other option, I lodged a case at a police station in Patna,” Singh said in a video recording, where he thanked CM Nitish Kumar.

On his part, Kumar voiced strong disapproval of the ‘forcible quarantine’ of the officer but the Mumbai Police chief said there was no question of non-cooperation with the Bihar Police team in the city, adding Mumbai Police was seeking legal opinion. On whether he would talk with his Maharashtra counterpart Uddhav Thackeray, Kumar said: “It is not a political matter. The issue at hand is a legal obligation of the Bihar Police. We will make all possible efforts to fulfil the same.” He evaded an answer to whether the state would recommend a CBI inquiry, a demand raised by at least two of Rajput’s sisters, apart from members of the bicameral Bihar legislature.

The demand was raised in the assembly by BJP MLA Neeraj Kumar Singh Bablu, a cousin of Rajput. “It is evident that the Maharashtra government is trying to put hurdles in the way of Bihar Police, preventing it from investigating the matter properly,” he alleged. The demand saw support from across the aisle with opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav seconding it, while asserting that RJD was the first party to ask for it. Congress legislature party leader Sadanand Singh suggested that a resolution be passed in support of a CBI demand. Raju Tiwari of LJP and Awadhesh Singh of Congress were among others who favoured a CBI inquiry. Bablu’s wife Nutan Singh, a BJP MLC, raised the issue in the legislative council.

With inputs from PTI